Solstice
by Rapunzel4
Summary: Youji has concocted a brilliant plan on what to get Ken for his birthday, but when the idea backfires, emotional turmoil abounds. RanKen
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: While I have immense amounts of fun with the characters of Weiss, I am not delusional enough to think that I own them.

Warnings: shounen ai

Author's Notes: I'm actually going to attempt to have some sort of schedule for posting a multi-part fic. Let's see how long this lasts.

Solstice

By Rapunzel

Chapter 1

Winter was on its way. The signs of its coming could be seen everywhere. A chill wind blew, harrying the fallen leaves in the streets and bringing with it a sharp drop in the temperature. The streets bustled with people wearing scarves, gloves, and thick coats to protect themselves from the cold.

Ken had rather mixed feelings about winter. It brought with it weather that was not exactly conducive to playing soccer, or even to going outside at all. Being kept indoors combined with the longer nights and shorter days could have a rather depressing effect. The colder weather also brought with it an increase of fangirls crowding into the shop, seeking refuge from the elements. Currently, they were swarming around Ken like pernicious gnats, buzzing constantly in an effort to get his attention.

"Ken-san, can you tell me what this flower means?"

"Ken-san, I'd like to get some of these."

"Ken-san!"

Ken dutifully supplied them with flowers, not commenting on their choices or thinking much about the fate of the unfortunate blossoms. Most, he knew, were destined to be thrown away, the girls having only bought them in the first place to keep Aya from evicting them from the shop. Ah well. Flowers were doomed to die anyway, especially in this season. Had they been left in nature, most of them would have perished already, victims of the frost and shortened days.

That was another thing about winter that bothered Ken sometimes. It was in many ways a season of death. And yet, to him it was also a season of life, since his birthday fell in winter. Granted, in recent years he didn't look forward to that as much as he once had. In many ways, his birthday was now simply a reminder that another year had passed without him managing to change his position in life.

"Oi, Ken!" Youji's voice broke into his introspection. "C'mere and give me a hand, will you?"

"With what?" Ken asked even as he dutifully trotted over to supply the requisite help.

"Aya wants the potted plants out front moved in," Youji said. "Apparently, the wind's kicked up and he's worried they might get damaged. But they're heavy, and I figure you're good at grunt work, right?"

Ken gave him a sour look, but refrained from commenting, knowing that Youji was probably just teasing him.

Youji caught the look and laughed. He led Ken outside where they began hauling the potted plants inside, lifting the heavier ones between them. It took them several minutes, and when the task was complete, they lingered outside. It was cold, but Ken preferred that to the stuffy and overcrowded interior of the shop. Beside him, Youji lit up a cigarette, and Ken deliberately shifted to be upwind of him. Youji, noticing this, tried to blow smoke at him without much success.

"Winter's coming," Youji remarked idly, looking up at the sky.

Ken just nodded, Youji's observation having been on his mind already.

"We'll have to start stocking Christmas stuff soon," Youji said.

"Yeah," Ken agreed, smiling slightly at the prospect. Christmas was another bright spot in the dour gloom of winter. Ken loved the holiday with its theme of peace and goodwill. Granted, people's actions around that time of year didn't always bear out those sentiments- one had only to go to a shopping center to see that- but it was the thought that counted, right?

"We'll need lots of poinsettia, of course," Youji mused, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "That stuff's always popular. And mistletoe."

"No mistletoe," Ken said firmly.

"No mistletoe?" Youji said, feigning shock. "But you can't have Christmas without mistletoe."

"Are you crazy?" Ken asked. "Think what the fangirls would do if they got a hold of that stuff. They're already bad enough. Why do you think I'm still standing out here?"

"Coward," Youji said jokingly, but he made no move to return to the shop himself.

"I am not," Ken protested. "They're just..."

"Clingy? Rabid? Scary?" Youji suggested.

"Yeah," Ken agreed. "All that stuff." He glanced through the window, watching the crowd of girls swamping Aya, who was manning the cash register. "At least they're buying stuff," he mused.

"You can thank our fearless leader for that one," Youji said, following his gaze inside. "He's in another one of his control freak phases."

Ken smiled at that. Periodically, when the shop's revenues fell below what Aya deemed an acceptable level, Aya would decide to actually attempt to enforce his edict of, "If you're not buying anything, get out!" He would keep a list, sometimes a mental one, sometimes a physical one if the shop was crowded, of who had come in when. If the person in question (who was almost always a high school girl) lingered for more than thirty minutes without buying anything, she would be asked to leave, and sometimes even escorted out personally if she refused to go. Not only that, but she would be barred from entering the shop again for the rest of the day. Ken personally thought that the scheme required too much time and effort on Aya's part, but it did usually lead to a spike in revenue.

Ken smiled wistfully as he watched Aya scowl at the girls surrounding him. Youji was right, Aya could be a little obsessive at times, but Ken admired his focus. It was one of many qualities about Aya that he liked and admired, even if he would never tell the redhead that. Telling Aya might make him think that Ken was coming onto him, and while it would have been true, that would bring up all sorts of complications that Ken wasn't quite ready to deal with yet.

Youji caught the longing look Ken was directing through the shop's window, and a thoughtful expression came over his face. "Hey, Ken," he said. "Your birthday's coming up fairly soon, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Ken blinked, startled out of his Aya-watching by the question. "Oh, yeah, it is." He smiled, pleased that Youji had remembered such a thing.

"I'll bet I know what you want for your birthday this year," Youji said, flashing Ken a teasing grin. "I'll bet you want Aya all wrapped up in ribbon with a nice pretty bow. And nothing else," he added almost as an afterthought.

Ken's face went bright red almost instantly. "Y-Youji!" he stammered, looking mortified. "Don't say things like that!"

"Why not?" Youji asked lazily, quite enjoying the stir he was causing. "Isn't it true?"

"That's entirely beside the point!" Ken blustered, his face still a lovely shade of scarlet.

"Oh no it's not," Youji said. "Just think about it."

Ken was thinking about it, and that was the problem. He was giving it entirely too much thought. Nothing but a ribbon and a bow... He couldn't help imagining just how much of Aya's lovely skin would be exposed by such a costume. Of course, the bow would be strategically placed, but he could leave the rest up to his imagination. Ken had a very active imagination when it came to Aya.

Youji leaned over and poked him in the side. "You know, you're giving it a little too much thought to bother denying anything," he said.

Ken, who was sure his face couldn't get any redder, felt the tips of his ears heat up at Youji's remark. He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a slight squeak.

He was abruptly saved from answering, however, when the door to the shop swung open and Aya stepped out, looking extremely irate. He cast a glance around the front of the shop, which was now devoid of any potted plants, and then turned his glare on Youji and Ken. "Would you mind explaining why you are both wasting time out here when there's work to be done inside?"

Youji waved his cigarette. "Smoking break," he said by way of explanation.

Aya snorted and transferred his dark look to Ken.

"Er... sorry!" Ken blurted and fled back into the shop. His face still felt too hot, and he couldn't help thinking that Aya somehow knew what they'd been talking about before his arrival. At that moment, even the excess of fangirls seemed preferable to Youji's teasing and Aya's glares.

/-/-/-/

Aya watched Ken rush past him, then turned back to Youji in suspicion. He'd noticed Ken's red countenance and mortification, and now he demanded, "What were you saying to him?"

"Oh, nothing in particular," Youji answered easily. "We were just discussing what he'd like for his birthday."

Aya narrowed his eyes. "You had better not be planning to get him anything inappropriate."

Aya was remembering his own birthday earlier that year when Youji's gift had consisted of condoms and handcuffs accompanied by a cheerful note that advised him to put them to good use. His response had been to hastily conceal the items from Ken and Omi while secretly plotting to put his katana to good use by killing Youji in his sleep.

His suspicions were in no way allayed when Youji said, "Define inappropriate."

Aya's glare went up a notch in intensity. "You know what I mean."

"What?" Youji said, blowing smoke at him defiantly. "Are you afraid I'll get him kinky sex toys and he won't use them on you?"

Aya made a growling noise low in his throat to show Youji that the comment was not appreciated, but a faint hint of a blush crossed his cheeks. "I don't know why I bother with you," he muttered.

"I don't know either," Youji admitted cheerfully.

Aya scowled at him. "If you're not done poisoning your lungs in five minutes, I'll come back out and drag you in by force if necessary."

"Fine, fine," Youji said, waving away the command.

Aya spun on his heel and marched back into the shop. Youji watched him go, a slight smirk on his face.

/-/-/-/

"I'm back!" Omi called cheerfully as he came into the shop.

Ken looked up from the potted rose he was pruning. "How'd the study session go?" he asked.

"Great," Omi answered. "It was very helpful."

Youji ambled in from the back room and, noticing that Omi had returned, beamed at him. "Ah, Omitchi! Just the person I was looking for." He reached out and snagged Omi's arm, pulling the small blond along towards the back of the shop. "I wanted to discuss something with you."

"But Youji-kun," Omi protested, a little surprised by this treatment, "I'm supposed to start work now."

"Plenty of time for that later," Youji answered, unphased. "Besides, you have to put your school stuff away anyway, right?" So saying, he dragged his captive out of the shop. Once he was sure that they were out of earshot of the other two, he stopped and released Omi.

Omi still looked a little bewildered, but that expression was warring with resignation. He'd had enough experience with Youji to have a fair idea of what such behavior meant. "All right, Youji-kun, what is it now?"

"I've got a plan," Youji said, sounding terribly pleased with himself. "If I can pull it off, it might be one of the best things that ever happened in this place, but I'm going to need some help."

"A plan?" Omi repeated, sounding confused. "A plan for what? A mission?"

"No, no," Youji said, rolling his eyes at the thought. "A plan for Ken's birthday."

"Oh." Omi considered this for a moment, then said, "Well, let's hear it then."

Grinning, Youji leaned over conspiratorially and quickly outlined his plan, the logic leading up to it, and the steps that would be necessary to ensure its success. When he'd finished, he asked, "So, what do you think?"

"I don't know, Youji-kun," Omi said doubtfully. "It seems like there's a lot of things that could go wrong."

"I know, but think about the possibilities if it works," Youji said eagerly. "Don't you think it's worth a shot?"

Omi chewed on his lip doubtfully as he thought about it. "I'm still getting Ken-kun a sweater in case it falls through," he said.

"Fine, fine," Youji said. "But you'll help me, right?"

"You're crazy," Omi declared. "But I'll help you anyway."

Tbc...

Author's Notes: Once again, my muse has managed to convince me to start something new. One of these days I'll learn how to ignore the little bugger...

Anyway, this is supposed to be a Ken's birthday/Christmas fic, just in case you couldn't tell already. That means that at least one of the parts should end up beingposted on or around Ken's birthday, and if I'm able to get my act together, the whole thing should be done by New Years. I hope. As for the title, that will hopefully be explained in sufficient detail later.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: While I have immense amounts of fun with the characters of Weiss, I am not delusional enough to think that I own them.

Warnings: shounen ai

Author's Notes: I've been trying to keep my promise to myself and get this finished on time. Of course, it's finals week right now, which means that my muse is going crazy trying to run in seven different directions at once. Hopefully she'll hold still long enough to let me get through this.

Beta's Notes: Additionally, we're really sorry this wasn't up yesterday, but 'Zel and I were having formatting difficulties, where my computer was refusing to open the files of this chapter she sent me. Obviously, we eventually got it to work, but it as a result, this is going up a day later than she had originally intended ;

Solstice

By Rapunzel

Chapter 2

For all the holiday cheer that seemed to have infected the shop, Aya was feeling very gloomy indeed. The crowd of fangirls clustered around him did nothing to improve his mood. With the winter holidays upon them, they were no longer protected from the onslaught of girls by normal school hours. The only bonus was that Omi was also out of school and thus able to help around the shop during those hours.

At that particular moment, however, Omi was not working. In fact, he was taking off his apron and appeared to be getting ready to leave the shop with Ken. Aya narrowed his eyes as he noted this. The shop wasn't due to close for another hour yet, and Omi was supposed to be on shift until then.

Stalking over to the pair, Aya scowled at Omi and demanded, "Where do you think you're going?"

Omi's smile held just a hint of nervousness as he answered. "Aya-kun, I was just going to head out with Ken-kun to do some last minute shopping."

"You're not off work yet," Aya said, still scowling at him.

"Oh, let him go, Aya," Youji called from behind the counter where he was wrapping a bouquet for a young lady. "I'll cover the rest of his shift and help you close up, if that's what you're worried about."

Aya turned an incredulous gaze on Youji. "You've never offered to close up for anyone before," he said, his voice containing a faint note of suspicion.

"Yeah, but we can't let Ken brave the crowds all on his own and on his birthday no less," Youji said.

"Fine," Aya told Omi resignedly. "As long as your shift's covered, there should be no problem." Truth be told, they could have used the extra help. But Youji was clever, Aya would give him that. He had managed to hit on one of the few excuses he knew Aya wouldn't refuse. Ken's birthday.

That same birthday had been troubling him all day. Ken obviously didn't expect the others to make a big deal out of the day, but Aya felt that to let it pass without any recognition at all would have been too sad for words. He wasn't too sure what exactly he should do to commemorate the occasion, however. He'd gotten Ken a gift, of course, but it was boring and practical, and he wasn't sure if Ken would really like it. His biggest concession had been to give Ken the day off work, and while he knew that Ken probably appreciated that, it seemed a paltry thing. The trouble was that most of the things Aya knew Ken really wanted, such as a normal lifestyle, were not things that he could give. His only consolation was that if he screwed up royally with Ken's birthday present, he had a few more days to try for a better Christmas present.

That consolation did not help to cheer him, however, as he watched Ken and Omi steer their way carefully through the crowd of girls and out the front door of the shop. Several of those same girls had already presented Ken with gifts of their own. Indeed, Aya had been surprised by the number of them who had known that today was Ken's birthday. Then again, maybe he shouldn't have been. The amount of information the girls had managed to compile for each of them was a little disturbing.

Having the fangirls present Ken with gifts had only made Aya more dispirited. He rather selfishly wanted his gift to stand out in Ken's mind, but given the number of presents the brunet had already received, that didn't seem likely. Still, at least Ken would know that he hadn't forgotten the occasion entirely.

Aya realized abruptly that he was in danger of zoning out, and quickly brought himself back to reality. Observing a crowd of girls milling around the counter and gazing at Youji with admiring eyes, he snapped, "If you're not buying anything, get out!" Some of the girls glanced at him briefly, some of them tittered nervously, but most of them simply ignored him, a response which only served to infuriate Aya. Surely they weren't going to force him to start cracking down on them** again**, so soon after the last time.

"Oi, Aya," Youji called, "loosen up a bit. They'll buy stuff, I just have to finish putting it in bouquets for them."

Aya scowled as the girls started twittering, gushing over Youji and thanking him for defending their right to be there. Snorting in disgust, he moved behind the register and sat down resolutely, hoping to give them some incentive to buy things. If they wanted to ogle him, they would have to come to the register, and if they came to the register, they had damn well better be buying something.

As it turned out, the scheme worked fairly well, and Aya was kept busy until closing time, at which point he almost gleefully evicted the girls from the shop and locked the doors. He and Youji set about the cleaning process in silence. Ken and Omi had not yet returned, and Aya wondered idly when they would get back. Not for a while, he surmised. Not given the crowds they were likely facing if they had attempted any sort of shopping that close to Christmas.

Finally, they were done, and Aya paused to give the shop one last once-over visually. Finding everything as it should be, he nodded briefly in satisfaction and headed to the back. Youji, he noted, had finished his part of the cleaning a little early and had gone before him. He found the blond in the kitchen, apparently preparing tea.

"Hey, Aya," Youji greeted him. "Want some?" He gestured to the kettle on the stove.

Aya nodded briefly as he sat down at the table. A cup of tea was sounding very nice after the long day he'd had, and the fact that someone else was preparing it for him was nice. Though come to think of it, it was a little odd. Youji didn't drink tea much himself; he tended to be more of a coffee drinker. Still, he was offering, and Aya had no intention of looking a gift horse in the mouth.

The kettle began to whistle, and Youji hastily grabbed it off the stove, pouring the hot water into two cups. "Busy day today," he noted as he prepared the beverage.

"Hn," Aya responded noncommittally. Youji was usually one to complain about work, so Aya didn't see why he'd want to make small talk about the subject now.

"It's lucky for Ken he didn't have to work today," Youji remarked, his back now to Aya as he handled the cups. He appeared to be fiddling with the tea bag in one of them. "It being his birthday and all."

Aya made another indistinct sound, idly wondering when Ken was going to get back. It wasn't too terribly late, but it was already dark outside, and it would probably be getting colder soon, if it hadn't already. Aya tried to remember whether Ken had taken his thick coat with him when he'd left.

"I'll bet you wouldn't be so nice to me on my birthday," Youji said, without any real bitterness in the statement. He sat down at the table across from Aya and slid a steaming mug in front of him.

Aya took the mug gratefully and wrapped his hands around it, savoring the warmth while waiting for the liquid to cool to a temperature that wouldn't kill off all his taste buds on contact. "Consider one of the days you simply decide not to work an early birthday present," he said.

Youji made a face at him. "Now that's not fair. I don't just decide to take days off for no reason, you know."

"Oh?" Aya asked archly. "And what's your reason, then? Getting out of bed required too much effort?"

"You know, you're a real hard-ass sometimes," Youji said, as casually as if he'd been talking about the weather. He nodded towards Aya's cup of tea. "Drink up already; it's not getting any warmer."

Aya took a cautious sip. He was pleased to note that the tea had cooled enough that he didn't end up scalding his mouth, but there was an odd taste to it that he didn't like. Leave it to Youji to screw up something as simple as making a cup of tea, he thought sourly. Still, he drank, not wanting to be blatantly rude. After all, it was his own fault for letting Youji prepare it for him in the first place.

"So," Youji went on, "is the day off the only thing you're getting Ken for his birthday?" His tone was casual, but he was watching Aya with a scrutiny the redhead wasn't sure he liked.

"No," Aya answered shortly.

"Glad to hear it," Youji said. "Because you know, Ken would probably be disappointed if it were. And you wouldn't want to disappoint Ken, now would you?"

"Hn," Aya responded noncommittally. There was a funny taste in his mouth now which he didn't like. He took another sip of tea to try to banish it.

"Of course you wouldn't," Youji said confidently, taking his grunt as a no. "Which is why I hope you won't be too mad at me for what's about to happen."

That confused Aya. What was Youji talking about? What was about to happen? Aya was sure he was missing something important, but suddenly thinking seemed to take too much effort. The small part of his brain that still seemed to think it was worth the effort was screaming at him, telling him that something was definitely wrong here. There was no way he should have been feeling that tired and lethargic, and it was certainly unusual that his vision suddenly seemed to be blurry. Wait, did that mean he needed glasses?

Aya's last coherent thought, before he fell face first into his mug of tea, was to wonder why Youji seemed so damn pleased.

/-/-/-/

"Are you ready to go home, Ken-kun?"

Ken, who had been standing as unobtrusively as possible by the entrance to the computer store waiting for his teammate, started slightly when he heard Omi address him.

"Yeah, I'm ready," he answered. "Got everything I needed to get." He patted the bag he was carrying, which contained a book for Aya. It was the reason he'd had to go shopping that day, despite the fact that he could think of other ways he'd rather spend his birthday. He'd still needed to get Aya's Christmas present, and his work schedule had left him with no time to do so until now. It was Omi who had suggested this outing, and Ken had more than happily agreed.

"Have you got everything?" he asked, eyeing the somewhat bulky bag Omi was holding. Letting the boy into a computer store alone could be a dangerous thing, but Ken had been too busy with his own shopping to go along and supervise. Now he wondered if he had made the right choice. Ken fervently hoped that Omi hadn't gotten too much stuff, or transporting it back on his bike would be difficult.

"Oh yes," Omi said brightly. Seeing Ken's look directed at the bag, he added, "This wasn't the only place I stopped."

That made Ken feel marginally better, and they headed out to Ken's bike together. Outside, darkness had fallen. The night was clear and bitterly cold, and Ken found himself wishing he'd thought to bring a thicker jacket.

"I hate winter," he muttered, half to himself.

Omi heard him, however. "Really? I kind of like it, myself. I like snow and the way it makes everything look."

"But it gets dark so early," Ken said. "The nights get so long, sometimes you think they're never going to end."

"Well, that is true," Omi said thoughtfully, "but if you think about it, winter doesn't really start until the solstice. And that's the turning point, really. After that the days start getting longer again."

"Yeah, I guess," Ken said vaguely, looking skyward into the night. He tried to pick out constellations, but didn't have much success, as the city lights had taken over the night sky and pushed most of the stars into obscurity. Instead, he settled on exhaling through his mouth and watching his breath form little clouds of mist in front of him.

Now that Omi mentioned it, the solstice was something of a turning point. Even if the days after it tended to be colder, they were longer. And his birthday fell just after the solstice. He wondered if there was some significance in that.

Omi was watching him, a thoughtful frown on his face. "Ken-kun, does winter make you feel depressed?" he asked.

Ken thought about that for a moment. "Not really," he said, and then amended, "Well, maybe a little. Why?"

"I was just wondering if you have seasonal affective disorder," Omi said.

"What's that?" Ken asked.

"It basically means you get depressed in the winter," Omi explained. "They think it's brought on by a lack of sunlight."

"Is that the one they treat by sticking you in front of a special lamp?" Ken asked, breaking himself out of his reverie and tossing Omi his helmet for the ride back.

"I think so," Omi said, catching the helmet deftly and putting it on.

"Well I hope they don't do that to me," Ken laughed, putting his helmet on as well. "Not unless you want toasted Ken."

Omi also laughed. "Toasted Ken, huh?" he said. "When you say it like that, it makes it sound like some sort of weird food."

Still laughing, they climbed on Ken's bike and headed back to the Koneko. The ride back made Ken really wish he'd brought a thicker jacket; the wind made the cold that much sharper and more unbearable. He was shivering by the time they finally arrived, and Omi teased him a little for having no forethought as he trailed on Ken's heels. He nearly ran straight into Ken's back, however, when that young man suddenly froze, body going completely rigid as he stared incredulously through the doorway into the rooms behind the shop. For a moment he simply gaped, and then his enraged cry filled the air.

"Youji! What the hell do you think you're doing!"

Tbc...

Author's Notes: Most of you probably already have a fair idea of what it is Youji's up to, but if not, it shall be made clear in the next chapter. Hopefully that will be up on or before Ken's birthday.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: While I have immense amounts of fun with the characters of Weiss, I am not delusional enough to think that I own them.

Warnings: shounen ai

Author's Notes: I have reached the conclusion that there's no way I'll have this story finished by New Year's, or even Twelfth Night, since I'm planning to go out of town for a few days, and then I leave on vacation with my parents shortly after that. My new goal is now to finish before the end of January.

Solstice

By Rapunzel

Chapter 3

While Youji would have admitted that he was not necessarily a man who had book smarts, he did pride himself on being quick witted. It was almost a requirement if one wanted to flirt successfully with a wide variety of women, which Youji did routinely. He always had to be ready with an appropriate comment to charm, or a disarming explanation to dissemble if they ever started asking too deeply into his personal life.

After many successful years in Weiss (successful in many respects), Youji had come to have a fair opinion of his own abilities when it came to plotting and pulling off crazy ideas. So he didn't anticipate any problems in his quest to secure Ken's birthday present. Drugging Aya's tea had been almost too easy, and he had taken an amused sort of satisfaction out of watching his normally graceful leader fall face first into the kitchen table like a sack of bricks. He didn't worry too much about the headache such an action might bring on later; it would serve the man right for always getting on his case when he was hung-over. Hauling Aya over to the couch to lay him out was a little more difficult. Aya was damned heavy for someone as skinny as he was. It was probably all that muscle mass, Youji decided. Of course, ideally he should have maneuvered Aya over to the couch **before** drugging him so as to avoid the whole moving process, but then hindsight was always twenty twenty.

It took longer than he'd expected, but Youji finally had Aya laid out on the sofa. Then came the dangerous part, the removal of the clothing. Under normal circumstances, attempting to remove Aya's clothes would have amounted to suicide, which was why Youji had taken the precaution of drugging him first. The task proved to be more difficult than Youji had anticipated. True, he had a lot of experience undressing people, but usually they were conscious and more than willing to help him. Aya, in his drug-induced sleep, was a deadweight, and Youji ended up accidentally rolling him off the couch just trying to get his shirt off. He considered leaving the redhead on the floor, but decided that neither Aya nor Ken would appreciate that very much. Then, once he'd managed to get Aya back on the couch and was ready to move on to removing the pants, he realized he'd forgotten a very crucial item. The red ribbon was still up in his room. Cursing, Youji left to go fetch it, knowing that he couldn't properly carry out the plan without it.

The plan was fairly simple. Omi and he had conspired to get Ken away from the shop for a few hours. During that time, Youji had told Omi that he would "convince" Aya to don the required costume. Convince, in this case, meant drug senseless, since Youji was fairly certain that nothing short of that would induce Aya to remove all of his clothes and wear nothing but a red ribbon wrapped all around his body, Ken's birthday or no. So, Aya had been duly drugged, and Youji, once he finished removing all of the redhead's clothes, would bind him up in the ribbon and leave him there for Ken to find when he got back. Of course, he expected Aya would be a little miffed with him when he woke up, but he was hoping Ken would have returned by then and that Ken's reaction to the costume would take care of any irritation Aya felt towards him.

It took him almost five full minutes to find the ribbon, but at last he returned triumphant to the room below where Aya was still waiting, sprawled unconscious on the couch. Youji began to wind the ribbon artfully around his shoulders and bare torso, trying not to make to the loops too tight. While having Aya trussed up would have meant the redhead couldn't hurt him, he doubted that Ken would appreciate it if Aya's movements were restricted, and this whole endeavor was for Ken's sake, after all. Humiliating Aya was just an added bonus, one Youji planned to take full advantage of by taking pictures of his handiwork once he was finished.

Youji quickly finished the wrapping job on Aya's chest and set the ribbon reel down on the couch while he went to remove Aya's pants. He paused to considered Aya's socks for a moment, then removed those too. When in doubt, bare more skin, that was his motto for the day. Of course, it wasn't his skin he was baring, but that was a minor point. His plan was going perfectly.

At least, his plan had been going perfectly until the worst happened.

Youji was just steeling himself to remove Aya's underwear when the redhead suddenly twitched. Youji froze and held perfectly still, hoping that the movement wouldn't be repeated. A moment went by during which both men remained in perfect stillness. However, just as Youji was breathing a silent sigh of relief and preparing to go back to his task, Aya twitched again. His eyelids fluttered briefly, and he shivered slightly as his body seemed to realize that it had been deprived of all the layers that had kept it warm.

'Please go back to sleep. Please go back to sleep. Please go back to sleep,' Youji begged silently. If Aya woke up at this stage in the game, he was a dead man.

Luck was not with him, however, for Aya groaned and lifted one arm to rub at his face. Youji cursed himself for his foolishness. He must have miscalculated the dosage for the drug. Either that or Aya hadn't finished all of his tea. Whatever the case, it was too late to do anything about it now.

Aya, meanwhile, in rubbing his arm across his face, had encountered the strange material there. He blinked his eyes open blearily to stare in confusion at the strange red cloth that encased part of his forearm. His gaze then traveled down to the rest of his body, and awareness began to return to his eyes. Youji realized that he had a very limited window of time in which to act before he died a horrible, painful death at Aya's hands.

"Kudou," Aya said in a soft but very dangerous voice, "what is the meaning of this?"

Youji swallowed hard as he looked into the violet eyes that were promising him a one way ticket to hell, and came to a decision.

'What the hell, I'm done for anyway.'

"I'm not done yet," he said, "so hold still." So saying, he strode over to Aya and made a grab for the edge of his underwear.

Aya's reflexes had been slowed by the drug, and that fact was probably the only thing that saved Youji as he leapt back to avoid the fist that had been aimed at his face. Aya jumped up off the couch, but immediately tripped over the ribbon, which still trailed from his body to the reel, and went over backwards. Youji, seeing his opportunity, jumped on him and attempted to use the ribbon to bind him up.

"What the hell are you doing!" Aya yelled, enraged. "Get off of me, you damn pervert!"

"Hold still, damn it!" Youji snapped back. "This is for Ken!" Adrenaline was giving him a sort of high, and he suddenly didn't care if Aya was going to kill him for this. This was Ken's birthday present, damn it, and he was going to finish the job and get it right!

"I don't care who this is for!" Aya yelled, shaking and kicking violently to dislodge him. "Get the fuck off and leave me alone!" He managed to haul himself away from Youji and climb to his feet, but Youji hastily grabbed the trailing end of ribbon and tugged hard, stopping Aya dead as the coil constricted around his body. Youji felt a momentary surge of victory. Aya was out of his element here. He had no katana, whereas Youji already had a weapon in hand. Ribbon wasn't exactly wire, but it was close enough that he could work with it.

"Hold still, I said!" he repeated, also climbing to his feet and attempting to both restrain Aya and finish the wrapping job. Aya snarled at him, but Youji was not about to let himself be deterred. He was just getting ready to knock Aya over and sit on him if necessary, when he heard a door open in the background. He was beginning to realize the implications of that sound and just how much trouble he was in when Ken's voice, raised in astonished fury, broke through the chaos of the room.

"Youji! What the hell do you think you're doing!"

Youji sighed heavily. So much for perfect planning.

/-/-/-/

Aya was pissed beyond words. His head still felt somewhat fuzzy from whatever drug Youji had used on him and he was angry with himself for having been gullible enough to drink the tea in the first place. To add insult to injury, he was now standing in the middle of the room with very little on in the way of clothing, and all three of his teammates were staring at him. To make matters worse, he was starting to get cold, since the ribbon didn't do much to provide thermoinsulation.

And now, worst of all, Ken had to see him like this. Ken had to see him mostly naked with the damn ribbon wrapped tightly around him like some sort of exotic snake constricting its prey. If Aya hadn't been angry enough to murder someone, he would have been trying to sink through the floor in embarrassment. His rage, however, would not let him back down until Youji had been suitably punished. In fact, the only person in the room who seemed to be more angry than he was about this turn of events was Ken.

"What the hell are you doing!" Ken repeated.

Youji seemed a little taken aback by the sudden return of the other two, but he quickly recovered himself. "Why, Kenken, you're back early," he purred. "I'm not quite done wrapping your present yet, but you can help if you want to. But I suppose you're more interested in the unwrapping part."

"Present?" Aya repeated incredulously. "I am not a damn present!"

Two long strides brought Ken into the room and over to them, and the next thing Aya knew, Youji was lying sprawled on the floor and Ken was standing over him, fist raised and ready for another punch, murder in his eyes.

"What are you trying to do!" Ken yelled. "Why are you trying to humiliate me like this? The joke about the ribbon wasn't even that funny the first time, and now you're trying to take it one step further?"

"Joke?" Aya repeated dangerously.

"No!" Youji said, hauling himself to his feet. "It isn't like that! Damn it, Ken, I'm not trying to make fun of you!"

"You think it's funny to knock me out, strip me, and tie me up?" Aya growled.

"Youji-kun," Omi put in from his place behind Ken, "I thought you said you'd convince him."

Ken whirled around to face Omi, eyes narrowed dangerously. "You mean **you** were in on this too!" he demanded.

"Um..." Omi backed away slowly.

"Look, the convincing part didn't go so well," Youji said. "But it wasn't supposed to turn out quite like this. The drug just wore off too soon."

It was the wrong thing to say. Ken spun back around to face Youji, his face turning white with fury. Youji took an involuntary step back as Ken advanced on him menacingly. "Drug?" Ken repeated, his voice a low growl. "You drugged Aya?"

Too late Youji realized the danger. "Look, I know what you're thinking, but it wasn't quite like that," he said, backpedaling as fast as he could.

"You're his friend," Ken said, his voice rising with every word, "and you drugged him!"

"I was just trying to get you your birthday present, damn it!" Youji yelled back.

"Why do you keep harping on this whole present thing?" Aya cut in. "How the hell does tying me up with ribbon constitute a birthday present?"

Ken, who had been preparing to pound Youji into a bloody mess, froze. His head slowly turned and he stared at Aya with wide brown eyes that held more than a hint of fear in them.

Aya glared back at him. "Do you think this is funny?" he snapped, gesturing at himself and his state of undress.

"N-no," Ken whispered back. He was so pale now that even his lips appeared an odd color.

"But you wanted this as your birthday present?" Aya said accusingly. "Well? Did you?"

"No," Ken said again, a little louder this time. "At least... not like this!" He suddenly whirled on Youji and burst out, "Now look what you've done! You ruined everything! Some birthday present!" He aimed one last savage kick at the blond, and then took off running for the stairs. The other three listened to his footsteps receding up the flight of steps, and then came the sound of a door slamming somewhere over their heads. They remained in silence, all staring after Ken, until finally Youji sighed heavily, rubbing his face where Ken had hit him.

"Well," he said quietly, "that could have gone better."

Tbc...


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: While I have immense amounts of fun with the characters of Weiss, I am not delusional enough to think that I own them.

Warnings: shounen ai

Author's Notes: I'm afraid that I've gotten a little behind on this, since I went out of town for a few days. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it before the new quarter gets too crazy and I have no time.

Solstice

By Rapunzel

Chapter 4

'I hate him!' Ken thought. 'I hate him! I hate him!' That mantra kept repeating itself in his brain as he made it to his room, slamming the door as hard as he could and locking it behind him.

He summoned up every hateful thought, every curse he could ever remember hearing, and directed them all against Youji. How dare he do such a thing, both to Ken and to Aya? To play a joke like that at his expense was bad enough, but to drug Aya to accomplish it... That was unforgivable. One simply didn't do devious things like that to one's friends.

Ken wasn't quite sure what Youji had hoped to accomplish with the whole thing anyway. Youji had joked about having Aya wrapped in ribbon as a birthday present, but the idea of actually making a gift out of another person was absurd, at least to Ken's mind. Youji must have intended all of this as a sort of gag gift. Probably he had only wanted to see the look on Ken's face when he came back to find Aya dressed like that. Youji had mentioned the drug wearing off too soon, which made Ken think that he had intended for Aya to sleep through the entire thing. That made sense, since Aya's murderous reaction proved that he wouldn't have taken the whole idea too well. Youji had probably planned to have him back in his normal clothes before he woke up. It seemed a somewhat extravagant length to go to just for a joke, but then Youji was in many ways an extravagant person.

What confused and hurt Ken even more was Omi's involvement in the whole thing. He must have been a part of it, since he had practically admitted to getting Ken out of the way while Youji carried out his plan. Omi had mentioned something about convincing, though, so at least Ken could absolve him of any involvement in the drugging part. Still, he didn't know why Omi would want to help make fun of him. Had he done something particularly egregious to his younger teammate to warrant such treatment? Was it simply that Youji had a strong enough influence on Omi that the small blond would go along with whatever he said? Ken wasn't sure, but he still didn't like the thought that Omi, who was his close friend and whom he had thought would never stoop to such a level, would take part in something like this. It seemed as if the only person who had not been in on the joke was Aya. That was both comforting, since it meant that Aya at least had not been making fun of him, and mortifying beyond words.

And now, thanks to Youji and Omi and their conniving plot, Aya knew. He knew that Ken had lustful thoughts about him, and to judge by the look on his face when Ken had left, he was none too pleased. The glare he had fixed Ken with still haunted Ken's memory. Why oh why couldn't he have simply laughed it off as some stupid joke of Youji's? Aya might have eventually been able to forgive him for that. But now, Aya would be wary around him. He would never forgive or forget the way Ken felt about him, and it would make him second guess Ken's every action, looking for the ulterior motive behind it. Before, Ken had been able to get away with admiring from afar, but now Aya would be vigilant against even that; now he would know to check and see if Ken was watching him. There would be tension between them, there was bound to be. Things might never go back to the way they had been. And it was all because of his plotting teammates.

'I hate them all!' Ken thought savagely. 'Except for Aya. But Aya...'

'Aya probably hates me now.'

/-/-/-/

One of the first things Aya did upon recovering from the shock of Ken's abrupt departure was to find his clothes. Youji had conveniently left them in a heap near the end of the couch, and once Youji no longer had the end of the ribbon to hold on to him with, Aya was free to go collect them. After unwinding himself from the ribbon and putting on his pants and sweater, Aya felt a little more in control of the situation. He stalked over to Youji, who was still sitting on the floor, grabbed him by the collar, and hauled him up until he was looking him in the face.

"You have five minutes to explain what the hell you thought you were doing before I kill you," Aya said, his tone deadly serious. "What was Ken talking about when he mentioned a joke and what have you done to upset him like that?"

"I'm not the only one who's managed to upset him," Youji said, pulling himself from Aya's grasp contemptuously.

"Don't you dare try to put any of the blame on me!" Aya hissed. "You're the one who was trying to make a fool of me!"

Youji just snorted. "Both of you have got it so wrong that it'd be funny if it weren't so sad."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Ken's pissed at me because he thinks I'm making fun of him. You're pissed at me because you think I'm making fun of you. Both of you are wrong," Youji explained. "I'm not trying to make fun of anyone. I was **trying** to help the two of you acknowledge what's been sitting under your noses for a while now. And since **you** can't seem to figure that part out, Ken's even more pissed at me."

Aya frowned. "That doesn't make any sense. What am I supposed to figure out? And what the hell were you doing, tying me up with ribbon, if you weren't trying to humiliate me?"

"I told you, already! You were supposed to be Ken's birthday present!" Youji said, exasperated.

"And how does stripping me and winding me up in that stuff constitute a present?" Aya snapped.

"Oh, figure it out already, Aya!" Youji yelled back. "You're not **that** stupid. What do you think?"

"I think that you were trying to give Ken a good laugh at my expense!" Aya growled. "And I don't appreciate it!" The words seemed hardly appropriate to describe his ire over the whole thing, but they were all he could come up with at that moment. What really stung about the whole thing was the thought that Ken might actually have found the idea funny at some point.

Youji looked ready to tear his hair out in frustration. "Didn't I already tell you this had nothing to do with making fun of anyone?"

Omi suddenly spoke up, interjecting a comment into the argument for the first time. "Ken-kun didn't seem to think it was very funny."

That was true enough, Aya supposed. Ken hadn't seemed at all pleased with the way things had turned out. That was some comfort at least, that Ken had been angry on his behalf over the whole thing. But why would Youji try to give Ken such a gift when it would only make him angry?

"It's your fault that Ken misunderstood the whole thing," Youji said accusingly to Aya. "If you had just had enough sense to see what I was trying to do and go along with it..."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to let you truss me up like that?" Aya asked sarcastically.

"You were **supposed** to drink all of your tea and sleep through the trussing up part," Youji said. "Admit it, if you hadn't woken up until Ken got back and found you like that, it wouldn't have been so bad."

"Not so bad?" Aya repeated incredulously. "It would have been mortifying!"

"But if Ken had reacted favorably, you wouldn't have minded so much in the end," Youji said.

"What do you mean, reacted favorably?" Aya asked. Yet even as he said it he knew what Youji meant. The realization was accompanied by a horrible pooling feeling in his stomach that felt like guilt as he began to understand just why Ken had been so upset.

"Judging by the 'oh shit' look on your face, I'd say you've finally figured it out," Youji observed. "Took you long enough."

Aya had nothing to say to that. He was too busy replaying the shouting match in his head, trying to figure out exactly how much damage he had done. How would Ken have interpreted his comments and accusations? If the brunet had assumed that Aya was angry at him for having feelings for him, no wonder he was so upset. Aya winced as he recalled his own words to Ken.

' "Do you think this is funny?" '

"Shit," Aya muttered.

"Yeah," Youji agreed. "I'd say that just about sums it up."

Aya glared at him malevolently. "This is still your fault, you know. If you hadn't decided to meddle in such a ludicrous fashion, there wouldn't have been any misunderstanding."

Youji rolled his eyes. "There wouldn't have been any understanding either though. You two were sure taking your sweet time figuring out the whole mutual attraction thing. I've had you both pegged for months, which is why I thought the present idea would work."

"Well, the present idea, as you call it, is probably the stupidest thing you've done yet," Aya retorted scathingly.

"No," Youji said, a serious and slightly melancholy note in his voice. "It's not." He stared at the rug for a moment, his eyes focusing on something only he could see, but then his face cleared. "But I have to admit, it certainly is pretty high on the list of idiotic things I've done."

Aya sighed heavily and resisted the urge to simply put his face in his hands and give up. "What the hell do we do now?" he asked wearily.

Omi, who had been standing fairly unobtrusively off to the side, decided to join the conversation again. "I think, Youji-kun, that you should go and apologize to Ken-kun. I'll go with you, since I was partially involved as well."

"No," Youji said, shaking his head, "Aya has to go apologize first."

Aya raised his head to stare at Youji incredulously. "Me?" he asked. There was no way Ken would want to talk to him after what he'd said.

"Yes, you," Youji said. "You need to apologize too, don't you?"

Aya didn't deny it. "But why me first?"

"Because," Youji said, "Ken isn't going to be in any mood to forgive me unless you two make up first."

Aya looked to Omi as a voice of sanity, but the boy just shook his head. "Youji-kun's right."

Sighing as he resigned himself to his fate, Aya rose to his feet and headed for the stairs. He had no idea what he would say to Ken, other than that he was sorry, and he had to think of something quickly. And it needed to be something good too. The last thing he needed was to screw this up as well.

However, when he reached Ken's door and knocked, there was no response.

"Ken?" he called tentatively.

Still no answer. Aya tried the handle only to discover that the door was locked. He knocked again, a little louder this time, just in case Ken had gone to sleep, which seemed unlikely. When there was still no response, Aya admitted defeat. Ken was avoiding him, probably as unsure of what to say to Aya as Aya was about what to say to him. Since Aya knew that he was responsible for Ken's hiding in the first place, he was unwilling to force the issue. So instead of pounding on the door and demanding that Ken let him in, he settled down with his back to the wall to wait.

'What the hell am I supposed to do now?'

Tbc...

Author's Notes: This chapter ended up being a little later than I'd intended, but thankfully the start of the quarter lull has jumpstarted the muse. Only two or so more chapters to go, and I'll be done with this.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: While I have immense amounts of fun with the characters of Weiss, I am not delusional enough to think that I own them.

Warnings: shounen ai

Author's Notes: Well, my schedule for completion of this is completely shot to hell, but then I was half expecting that. It will be finished, however. Eventually. As it is,I shouldn't evenbe posting today. I should be holed up in a corner studying. The invertebrate zoology midterm cometh...

Solstice

By Rapunzel

Chapter 5

The next morning when the shop opened, Ken did not appear for his shift. Omi went upstairs to fetch him, but came back down again saying that Ken claimed to be feeling unwell and still would not admit anyone to his room. Youji opined that he was moping rather than sick, but Aya decided to leave him alone anyway. As it was, the shop was only open for part of the day that day, since it was Christmas Eve, and he didn't consider it worth the effort to drag Ken down for a half day shift when the brunet was obviously hell bent on staying locked in his room.

As it turned out, Ken didn't leave his room all morning. Aya watched and listened carefully for any sign of him, but he never appeared. By the time lunch rolled around with no contact from the brunet, Aya was equal parts annoyed and worried. It wasn't like Ken to hide like this, and Aya wondered what he was hoping to accomplish with his disappearing act. It certainly wasn't a strategy that would work long term.

When they closed the shop for lunch, Aya wandered to the back to find Omi looking concerned. "Ken-kun still hasn't come out yet, has he?" the boy asked.

Aya simply shook his head.

Omi chewed his lower lip in a worried fashion. "I wonder if he's eaten at all today."

"Probably not," Aya said.

"Maybe I should take him some lunch," Omi suggested.

Aya wasn't sure that that was a good idea, simply because he had been hoping that food, or lack of it, would be one of the factors that would motivate Ken to break his self-imposed isolation. However, he saw no way to contradict Omi's suggestion without sounding very cold hearted indeed, so he simply shrugged.

Taking the shrug as permission, Omi nodded decisively. "I'll fix something to take up to him. If nothing else, it might provide an excuse for me to talk to him."

Aya snorted. "That's assuming he lets you in in the first place."

Omi, however, remained optimistic. "It can't hurt to try again. He's had all last night and this morning to get over it."

"Or to brood on it," Aya said darkly. Knowing Ken, he was fairly certain it was the latter. Staying locked in one's room didn't sound like getting over it behavior to him. Still, Omi was right; it couldn't hurt to try. And Omi had a way of cajoling people that Aya could never hope to match. The boy probably had a better chance of getting Ken to let him in than anyone else.

Omi, who had been busily setting food items on a tray while Aya thought, finished his preparations and hefted the tray up. As he headed off for the stairs, Aya stopped him.

"Omi," he said.

Omi paused. "Yes, Aya-kun?"

"If he does let you in, tell him I want to talk to him."

Omi nodded and continued on his way.

/-/-/-/

Ken was dozing lightly when the knock came on his door. His distress the previous night had made it difficult to sleep, and now he wanted nothing more than to curl up on his bed and ignore the world. However, the insistent knocking refused to be silenced, no matter how much he ignored it. When stuffing a pillow over his head failed to improve the situation any, Ken finally gave in and called out, "Who is it?"

Omi's voice filtered in to him through the wood of the door. "It's me."

Ken sat up in bed and scowled at the door, totally oblivious to the fact that Omi couldn't see him. "Go away."

"But I brought you lunch," Omi said. "Aren't you hungry, Ken-kun?"

Ken opened his mouth to say that no he wasn't, but his stomach, encouraged by the thought of food, beat him to the punch by growling loudly. It reminded him, in no uncertain terms, that since he had gone into hiding before eating dinner the previous night, he had not put anything into it for approximately twenty-four hours.

"Damn," Ken muttered softly.

"Ken-kun." Outside, Omi's voice took on a slightly wheedling quality. "I know you're mad at us, but it's really not as bad as you think. Won't you let me in so we can talk while you eat?"

Ken considered his options. He was still a little peeved with Omi, but not nearly as pissed as he was with Youji. And given Aya's current frame of mind, there was no way Ken was going near him unless absolutely necessary. Sooner or later he would have to eat, and of all the people who could bring him lunch, Omi presented the least potential for confrontation. Thinking along those lines, Ken reached his decision.

"Fine," he called resignedly. "Just give me a minute."

He slid out of bed and padded across the room to the door, undoing the lock and opening it just enough to cautiously peer out. Seeing no one but Omi, who was holding a tray and looking both hopeful and concerned, he opened the door fully and stepped back, allowing his younger teammate to enter. He noted that Omi seemed rather relieved to be let in.

Then Omi set the tray down, and Ken ignored everything else in favor of attacking the food on it. He hadn't really realized how hungry he was until food had been mentioned. It only took him a few minutes to finish everything on the tray, and when he did, he looked up to find Omi watching him with a slightly stunned look on his face.

"Wow," he said. "You were hungry, huh?"

Ken just nodded, slightly abashed.

"It's a good thing I brought you lunch, ne?"

"Yeah," Ken agreed. "Thanks." He was hoping that now that the food was gone, Omi wouldn't have any reason to stay and would pick up and leave. Omi, however, seemed to have other ideas. He settled himself on the foot on Ken's bed and gazed at his friend intently.

"You don't look so good," Omi observed.

Ken sighed heavily. Great. Omi wanted to talk, and Ken didn't need three guesses to figure out what he wanted to talk about. The problem was that Ken didn't especially want to talk at that moment, particularly since he still couldn't decide if he was peeved at Omi or not.

"I just had what was quite probably the shittiest birthday of my life," Ken said with a shrug. "What did you expect?"

Omi sighed heavily. "Ken-kun, I'm really sorry about how things turned out, and so is Youji-kun. If you would let us talk to you, we would tell you that."

Ken didn't really have anything to say to that. Apologies didn't do much good at this point.

"We hoped that you might be more willing to let us apologize and try to make it up to you after Aya-kun had been up here, but he said you wouldn't let him in," Omi went on.

Ken frowned. "I don't want to talk to Aya right now."

"But why not?" Omi asked, looking bewildered. "Aya-kun wants to talk to you."

"Oh, I'll just bet he does, if by talk you mean chew me out," Ken muttered sarcastically.

Omi gave him a sympathetic look and patted the spot on the bed next to him, inviting Ken to come sit. For reasons he couldn't fathom, Ken found himself complying. He settled himself on the mattress next to Omi and sat staring at his hands, trying not to imagine what Aya would have to say to him when he was eventually forced to come out of hiding.

"Ken-kun," Omi said in a soothing tone, "Aya-kun doesn't want to chew you out."

Ken snorted. "Yeah. Sure. How can you think that? You saw how pissed he was last night. He probably thinks that I asked Youji to do that or something like that."

"He knows it was Youji-kun's idea, and you had nothing to do with it," Omi said. "He's not mad about that."

"He knows," Ken repeated vaguely. "He knows everything now."

Omi was silent, not denying the statement.

"He knows how I feel," Ken murmured, "and now he'll never let me near him again. Maybe if I'd had time to break it to him slowly, or if he'd never found out, I'd still be okay. Now it's all finished."

"That's not true," Omi protested. "Aya-kun isn't as mad as you think he is. And if he is angry, it's mostly at Youji-kun. He won't never let you near him again."

"Are you sure?" Ken asked, not quite able to believe that. "He seemed pretty mad at me last night. And really, the way the rest of my life has gone, this should just complete the pattern. Almost every other part of my life sucks, so why shouldn't my love life be the same?"

"Oh, Ken-kun," Omi said comfortingly. "You're being melodramatic. Things can't be bad forever. Sooner or later, there has to be a point when they can't get any worse, and then your luck will turn."

"I don't know," Ken said sounding glum. "I'm not sure my life has one of those points."

"It does," Omi said firmly. "And you're sure to hit it soon, if you haven't already. Things are bound to get better."

Ken rolled his eyes, but he didn't have the heart to directly contradict Omi on that one. Let the boy believe in his optimistic theory if he wanted; Ken wouldn't be the one to disillusion him.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Omi seemed to decide that he had gotten out of Ken all that he was willing to share. He rose to his feet and collected the tray, beginning to head towards the door. Before he opened it, however, he turned back to make one parting comment.

"Ken-kun, I know you think that Aya-kun hates you now, but he really doesn't. You'll just have to believe me on that. Please, if he comes up to talk to you again, don't turn him away. If nothing else, the two of you need to straighten things out. After all, you can't stay in here forever."

Ken went back to staring at his hands and did not reply.

Omi sighed. "Just talk to him, okay?" And then he opened the door and slipped quietly out.

/-/-/-/

Aya couldn't believe he was doing this. Had he been in any other circumstances, he would have considered going in to get his head checked. Actually, he was still considering that, but he reminded himself that there was a very good reason why he was doing what he was. Ken was a good enough reason for almost anyone.

When Youji had suggested the idea that afternoon, he had thought at first that the man was joking. Omi had come down from Ken's room and informed them both that while Ken didn't seem quite ready to talk to Aya just yet, he should be thinking about it. Youji had then suggested his idea of a way for Aya to try to make things up to Ken.

Aya had scoffed at first. "You already tried that," he'd said, "and we all saw how well it worked."

"Ah," Youji had said, "but I think that coming from you, it might work a little better."

And so here Aya was, standing outside Ken's door ready to humiliate himself in the name of second chances. He tried to console himself by thinking that the only person who was actually going to see this would be Ken. Somehow he didn't think that the brunet was going to laugh at him.

Deciding that he had better just get it over with, Aya raised his hand and knocked.

After a moment, Ken's voice rose in a cautious reply. "Who is it?"

Aya didn't respond. He wasn't sure if he was still on Ken's list of people he didn't want to talk to, and if he was, he didn't want to risk Ken sending him away without even opening the door. So in lieu of a verbal reply, he simply knocked again.

He spent another moment waiting in silence, but after about thirty seconds had elapsed, he heard Ken's footsteps approaching the door. He drew breath nervously and straightened, trying to appear braver about all this than he actually felt.

The door opened. "What do..." Ken's voice trailed off and died as he caught sight of Aya. They stood frozen for a full minute, Aya standing in the hall, and Ken standing in the doorway gaping at him.

Finally, Aya said, "Do you mind if I come in? It's a little cold out here."

The hallway was fairly chilly, especially since he wasn't wearing a sweater, or even a shirt. In fact, the only things he had covering the upper half of his body were a few loops of bright red ribbon, which came together to form a bow in the center of his chest. Despite Youji's suggestions, he had left his pants on. He still had some dignity left, and besides, there was no point in going all out when he wasn't sure exactly how Ken was going to react.

At that moment, Ken didn't seem to be reacting at all. It was as though someone had stolen his ability to speak. It took him a moment to process Aya's request, but when he did, he nearly jumped back out of the doorway, holding the door open and gesturing Aya in with rapid, nervous movements.

Aya entered gratefully. As he had expected, Ken's room was warmer than the hall, and he was glad for that. He turned to face Ken, who was staring at him as he shut the door, still utterly speechless. Aya waited in silence for him to regain his equilibrium and speak.

Finally, Ken licked his lips and whispered, "What on earth are you doing?"

"Trying to make up for your ruined birthday," Aya said. "Or trying to give you an early Christmas present. You decide which of those two you like more."

"Youji..." Ken started, but didn't seem to know what he wanted to say and so fell silent.

"Youji had nothing to do with it this time," Aya said. "Well," he corrected himself with a little grimace, "he suggested it, but he did not drug, force, or coerce me into it this time."

Ken blinked at him, his mouth working as he tried to come up with some sort of reply, but no sound came out.

Aya sighed heavily and picked at the bow. "I know that after last night's little fiasco, you're probably unhappy with me. I did not mean to sound so harsh to you; I spoke without understanding the situation."

"Then... you're really not mad at me?" Ken asked, sounding almost as though it was too much to hope.

"I'm not," Aya confirmed. "And I just wanted to say that... if I had known that this was what you wanted," he gestured at the ribbon, his bare chest, and the rest of himself, "I wouldn't have waited for your birthday to give it to you."

"You're serious," Ken said, his voice deadpan, as though he still couldn't quite believe it.

"I'm serious," Aya said. "As much as you want... you can have."

Ken nodded stupidly. Some of the disbelief was fading from his face, but he still looked stunned.

"I must confess," Aya said, frowning at him sternly, "I did expect a little more reaction though."

Ken blinked, and then shook his head as if to clear it. "The bow's distracting me," he said.

Aya arched an eyebrow. "Well, then take it off," he said, a hint of challenge in his voice.

Ken just stared at him for a moment. Then slowly, a feral and slightly predatory grin spread across his face. He stalked towards Aya slowly, reaching out to grasp one of the edges of the ribbon where it trailed out from the bow. "I think I will, if you don't mind," he said.

"I don't mind," Aya said, sounding a little breathless. Ken's close proximity and the look in his eyes were making breathing more than a little difficult.

"Good," was all Ken had to say as he simultaneously tugged the ribbon to undo the bow and leaned in for a kiss.

Well, Aya thought vaguely as Ken proceeded to kiss all the sense and rational thought out of him, Ken's birthday had been yesterday after all. It was no wonder he was eager to open his present.

Tbc...

Author's Notes: Only one more chapter to go, and this sucker is finished! I think that'll make it the first WK multipart fic that I've managed to finish.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: While I have immense amounts of fun with the characters of Weiss, I am not delusional enough to think that I own them.

Warnings: shounen ai

Author's Notes: Paper writing season and the general end of the quarter crush scared the muse off for a while, but once finals week came, she returned full force. Unfortunately, that was also finals week for my beta reader, so the process was slowed down a little.

Solstice

By Rapunzel

Chapter 6

Ken was yanked rather abruptly from a very deep sleep at six o'clock in the morning by pounding on his door. Irritated by the noise, he tried to burrow deeper into the covers and closer to the warm mass beside him, not really registering what that mass was until it shifted to accommodate him and a long arm stretched out to settle across his shoulders. Ken jerked in surprise and pushed himself up on his elbows to look down at his bed fellow.

Aya was stretched out on his side next to him, the covers pulled up to his nose and obscuring part of his face. As Ken watched, Aya's face scrunched slightly in annoyance. Evidently his half sitting up had displaced the redhead, and Aya shifted over until he was once more flush against Ken's side. Once there, he seemed to settle again. Ken didn't think he could have stopped the silly grin that spread across his face if he had tried.

The only thing in that moment which wasn't perfect was the ongoing knocking. It continued unabated and was soon joined by a voice. "Ken-kun? Are you awake?"

Ken couldn't be bothered to even turn fully towards the door as he called, "What is it, Omi?"

"It's time to get up, Ken-kun! It's Christmas morning!" Omi said, sounding excited. "We have to go downstairs and eat breakfast and celebrate!"

"Uh... right," Ken replied vaguely. "We'll be down in a bit."

"We?" Omi asked, sounding slightly confused.

"Uh..." Ken looked down at the still-sleeping Aya, feeling a little sheepish. He hadn't meant to let that bit of information slip quite so early on, and now he was at a loss as to what to say.

There was silence outside his door for a moment, and then Omi said, "Um... I'll just go wake Youji-kun up then. You come down when you're ready to. Take your time." The tone of Omi's voice said that he knew exactly what he was implying by the last part of that statement.

Ken blushed, but even embarrassment wasn't enough to truly dampen his good mood that morning.

Next to him, Aya shifted suddenly, and a slight frown crossed his face. Fascinated, Ken reached out and tried to smooth the lines of it with his fingers. In response, Aya only frowned more and cracked his eyes open a bit.

"Lie down," he grumbled. "You're letting all the cold air in."

Obediently, Ken lay back down, and Aya promptly shifted over to curl against him, throwing an arm across his waist and a leg over his. Ken quickly found the goofy grin back on his face, and wasn't sure it had ever left. He suddenly couldn't care that it was Christmas morning and that Omi was probably waiting on them to start eating. As far as Ken was concerned, he already had what he wanted.

There was a soothing rumble next to him as Aya spoke. "Was that Omi at the door?"

"Yeah," Ken said. "He's excited and ready to go because it's Christmas. But don't worry, we don't have to get up for a little while. He said take your time, and he has to wake Youji up, which'll probably take forever."

Aya made a noise of understanding and fell silent.

"Aya?" Ken said after a moment.

"Hm?" Clearly, Aya wasn't fully awake.

"Um..." Ken felt his blush returning. "I kinda let slip to Omi that you were in here with me."

"And?" Aya asked, opening his eyes and looking at Ken rather blearily.

"You don't mind, do you?"

"No. It's not like he didn't already have some idea. Everyone knew after the first ribbon fiasco."

"Oh, yeah." Ken felt his blush get a little hotter at being reminded of the ribbon incident.

"It doesn't matter," Aya said, reaching up to clasp the nape of Ken's neck. Gently, he guided Ken's head down until it was resting under his chin. "Just don't worry about it and go back to sleep."

Ken nodded slightly, his movements somewhat restricted by this new position. Not that he was complaining, far from it. For the first time in a very long time, it actually felt like there was a chance for things to be right in the world again. Omi was right, he mused. Things could only be bad for so long before they reached a turning point. A solstice of sorts, after which the days would grow longer.

Smiling at the thought, Ken drifted back to sleep.

/-/-/-/

Youji was already downstairs, sitting at the table and drinking coffee when Ken and Aya finally made their way down. He raised an eyebrow at seeing the two of them appear together and remarked, "Well, look who finally decided to show up. Running a bit late this morning, aren't we? The chibi's been up for hours now."

"We stayed up late," Ken said. The minute the words were out of his mouth, he could have kicked himself. Saying things like that to Youji was like giving him an invitation to tease.

And who was Youji to refuse an invitation? "Oh, I'll just bet you did," he said, giving Ken a wink and a knowing smile.

Ken felt his face heat up.

"And I think we can all guess what exactly you stayed up late doing, hm?" Youji said suggestively.

"You know, Kudou," Aya's voice interjected from somewhere behind Ken, "that doesn't sound terribly like an apology to me."

Youji had the good grace to look contrite. "Oh yeah. Hey, Ken, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about screwing up your birthday. But in my defense, my intentions were good."

Ken scowled at him. "You should be apologizing to Aya, not me."

"Already taken care of," Youji said. "Aya and I have already sorted things out, right Aya?"

"Hn," was all Aya had to say to that.

"See?" Youji said. "So now I just need you to forgive me and everything is golden."

Ken looked at him for a moment without speaking. "Well," he finally said, "you did totally screw up my birthday, even if you meant well. And you didn't check with me or Aya first like you should've before trying out that stupid plan. And you drugged Aya, which was really wrong of you." He paused and surveyed Youji, who was looking somewhat remorseful. "But I guess it all turned out okay in the end, and it's Christmas, so I guess I can forgive you."

Youji gave him a smile with a hint of relief in it. "Great! Because having you mad at me on Christmas would really suck. In fact, having you mad at me period sucks. Anyone ever tell you you have a mean right hook, Ken?"

Ken smirked. "What, did I bruise your pretty face and ruin your chances of getting a date for a while?"

"Nah," Youji said easily. "Some girls really go for the roughed-up look. Makes you seem tough."

"Or like a wimp who loses a lot of fights," Ken shot back.

"Hey!"

"Of course, you could always use the bruise to get sympathy points from the girls," Ken said.

Youji glared at him, but the look lacked any real malice. Ken answered it with a grin, pleased and a little relieved that he could still banter with Youji like this after what had happened. He had been absolutely furious with the blond the day before, but it was hard to hold a grudge when the world suddenly seemed like such a nice place. Besides, he supposed that Youji really had meant well.

Rather abruptly, Omi came bursting into the kitchen, all energy and excitement over the holiday. He paused to take in Ken and Youji, then beamed. "Have you two finally made up? That's good!" he said brightly. "Now hurry up and eat breakfast! We have lots of things to do today. We'll eat cake and exchange gifts..."

"All right, all right, we'll hurry," Ken said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. He wasn't about to spoil the boy's fun.

As he sat down at the table, however, he noticed that Aya made no move to join him. Turning, he saw that the redhead was standing in the same spot, looking ahead blankly with something that might have been alarm in his face.

"Aya?" Ken said hesitantly.

"Presents," Aya said tonelessly. "What with all the commotion, I completely forgot to get you a Christmas present."

Ken blinked in surprise, but then his face softened and he smiled. Standing up, he moved over to Aya and leaned against him. "What are you talking about?" he said. "You already gave me my present, remember? The best one I've had for a really long time."

Youji, who was still sitting at the table watching them, grumbled half-heartedly, "That present was my idea, and he gets all the credit."

Ken ignored him. "C'mon," he said, tugging Aya's sleeve lightly. "Come eat breakfast. Omi'll explode if we keep him waiting too much longer."

Omi made a face. "I won't explode," he said. "Now hurry up and eat!"

Ken sat down and watched Aya settle into the chair next to him with a smile. He'd eat and open presents to humor the boy, but he didn't really care what he got now. As far as he was concerned, he had already received the perfect gift.

Owari

Author's Note: I finally finished it! My first multipart Weiss fic (not including Quirks, which doesn't really count because it's a series of short fics rather than chapters).


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